Ousman Sonko, the former Minister of the Interior under Yahya Jammeh, has just been sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity. Acts of torture, extrajudicial executions and detention, kidnappings committed as part of crimes against humanity, these are the facts accused by the Swiss federal court which delivered its verdict this Wednesday late morning
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This verdict is a real satisfaction and relief for the civil parties. For seven years, since the arrest of Ousman Sonko in 2017, the wait for the judgment was long.
“ It is first of all the guilty verdict which rejoices us first of all for the victims and the complainants who fought all these years of procedures. And then, the rejoicing that the crimes from which the Gambians suffered, atrocious crimes of torture and so on, are recognized today by an impartial and independent tribunal, declared Benoit Meystre, the legal advisor of the Trial International organization which is at the origin of the complaint to the Swiss courts. We have heard plaintiffs say that being able to testify in court about what they suffered contributes to their healing. “.
From 2000 to 2016, Ousman Sonko was at the heart of the repressive system under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. But he and his lawyer have always denied any responsibility. They blame the crimes on the intelligence services and pro-regime militias of the time.
A symbolic judgment
“ It is clear that he was never present on the scene at the time of the events, and it is clear that the people who committed these acts and who are clearly identified were never his subordinates. It feels a bit like we’re putting everyone in the same boat, deplores Ousman Sonko’s lawyer, Phillipe Currat, who announced that he would appeal. In any case, he was a minister, of which he was necessarily aware and because he then obviously knew, he is guilty, it’s a bit easy, it’s a bit light. »
For international justice, this judgment has a symbolic character, because it is relatively rare that universal jurisdiction is invoked and therefore that a judgment for crimes against humanity committed in another country is pronounced. For now, Ousman Sonko is the first Gambian dignitary of the Jammeh era to be sentenced abroad.
Two years ago, Gambian authorities agreed to prosecute 70 personalities. Yahya Jammeh of course, but also former dignitaries over whom accusations of crimes and atrocities still hang.
Read alsoThe historic trial of former Gambian minister Ousman Sonko raises a lot of expectations